Melissani Cave

The Melissani Cave is a cave situated northwest of the village of Sami on the Greek island of Cephalonia. In Greek mythology, Kephalos (the island's namesake) hid his legendary spear - a gift from the Gods, and which could never miss its mark - in the cave after accidentally killing his wife Prokris during a hunt. In 431 BC, priestess Demetra Valli sent the mercenary Kassandra to search for the spear, and Demetra dove into the cave's water, swam deep underwater before surfacing deeper into the cave, killed the bandits Haris Theodoros and Nikitas Panagos, and retrieved the spear before returning the spear to the Temple of Zeus at Cephalonia in Sami.